Gaza war film 'The Voice of Hind Rajab' wins second prize at Venice

Venice: The Voice of Hind Rajab , a gut wrenching Gaza film that left audiences sobbing at its premiere, won the Silver Lion grand jury prize at the...

Venice: "The Voice of Hind Rajab", a gut-wrenching Gaza film that left audiences sobbing at its premiere, won the Silver Lion grand jury prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday.

The movie, from French-Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, is about the real-life killing of five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab by Israeli forces while her family was trying to evacuate from Gaza.

In a move that might disappoint campaigners against the Gaza war, the Venice jury under American director Alexander Payne did not reward "The Voice of Hind Rajab" with the Golden Lion.

Instead, the film about a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israeli troops last year, which reduced many festival viewers to tears, was given the grand jury second prize.

Director Kaouther Ben Hania produced a dramatised re-telling of Hind Rajab Hamada's ordeal after she was trapped in a car that came under fire while she and her relatives were fleeing Gaza City.